


Falling

by halik



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Break Up, Canon Compliant, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25505998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halik/pseuds/halik
Summary: some things, and some people, are really not meant to be.or, akira realizes that a long-distance relationship was just not for him.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Kunimi Akira
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> this idea came to me at 3am while listening to this is me trying by taylor swift and falling by harry styles

Tobio was finally home to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics after nearly two years of being overseas. Akira should be excited to see his boyfriend, but he wasn’t, because he knew he would be breaking both of their hearts once they met.

Akira enters the coffee shop they agreed on – it was their favorite hole-in-the-wall cafe before Tobio joined the Italian League. Akira found him sitting in a booth by the window, still as beautiful as ever, then their eyes meet. He will miss those piercing blue eyes. Somehow, he sensed that Tobio already knew, with the way his eyes looked sorrowful and almost pleading, ready to say goodbye. It was like Tobio was trying to memorize every feature, every shadow, every small action, and everything else that makes up Kunimi Akira.

“I did love you, you know.”

“I know. Me too.”

Akira felt pathetic for drinking his favorite and most expensive bottle of Koshu wine alone in his apartment. He reserved this bottle for special occasions, specifically for joyous celebrations such as Tobio coming home to Akira. But here he was, wasting it away and trying to mend his broken heart with alcohol. The ironic thing was, the Koshu wine was a parting gift from Tobio before he left for Italy. This fact made him want to throw the bottle across his room, but he didn’t.

He missed Tobio so much, or rather, the memory of being with Tobio when they first fell in love.

He thinks back to the time when they coincidentally met each other a few weeks after the historic Jackals v. Adlers match in a convenience store somewhere in Miyagi. Akira found Tobio by the refrigerator section.

“Kageyama,” Akira started, “didn’t think you’d still love drinking milk at your old age.”

Tobio recognized the voice even before turning around. “Kunimi,” he greeted, and flashed him a smile which made Akira’s heart flutter slightly. Just slightly.

“Welcome home,” Akira smiled back.

Akira brought up his declaration of playing together again, and invited Tobio out for dinner with Yuutarou, just to catch up and discover how to be friends once more. Unexpectedly, the dinner became a date as Yuutarou had a team emergency, and that was the same day when Akira and Tobio realized that they wanted to see and learn more of each other – alone.

Akira remembers the moment he fell in love with Tobio, and it was no grand moment. They were only dating for a couple of months then. Tobio was sitting on Akira’s couch, with him lying on Tobio’s lap while having his hair petted, watching Akira’s favorite American sitcom. Them being so comfortable with each other, and Tobio watching Akira’s favorite show intently, even though Tobio doesn’t ever watch anything that doesn’t concern volleyball – all of it made Akira laugh now because something as simple as hanging out made him fall in love with Tobio so easily.

Akira would watch most of Tobio’s matches when he wasn’t busy with work. Tobio would come back home to Miyagi and spend his nights with Akira. When Akira found out that Tobio has never been to an amusement park, he set up a weekend exhibition to Osaka to visit Universal Studios. They brought back home fun memories and numerous polaroids, along with Tobio’s new fear of roller coasters.

They were lying in Akira’s bed when Tobio brought it up.

“I’m leaving in a few months. Please tell me we can still make this work,” he asserted while taking both of Akira’s hands and placing soft kisses on each knuckle.

“Of course. I’ll wait for you,” Akira replied. Tobio felt as happy as he was at 19 when he managed to consecutively score with just service aces in his past Olympics stint.

Eventually, the time for Tobio to follow his dreams and leave for Italy had come. The long distance was fine at first. Manageable, even. It was definitely new for both of them but worth trying out, because Akira thought Tobio was like experiencing the first bloom of cherry blossoms in early spring, like fresh coffee brewing on a cool Sunday morning, like coming home to a scrumptious meal after volleyball practice back in high school, like a warm blanket during a cold storm. Akira thought Tobio felt like home.

After Tobio left, Akira slowly got used to being alone, physically, but Akira also got used to being Tobio’s person – the person Tobio narrates stories about his new teammates to, the person he tells what kind of ridiculous advertisement projects he’s being offered, the person Tobio would seek whenever he wasn’t feeling his best self. Akira got used to talking about anything and everything with Tobio, until there was nothing left to talk about, and just hearing each other breathing through the phone line was enough.

Both of them kept to a routine in phoning each other nearly every day despite the time difference. Akira would share cat videos to him, which Tobio loved, and Tobio would share the volleyball plays he found exceptional and would study, which Akira also loved because he loved anything that Tobio enjoyed.

They sent each other photos of their meals, of silly selfies, of random strangers doing God knows what during daily commutes, with some naughty texts in between.

“I can’t believe you sent me a video of you jacking off while I was at work! I could have opened that in public and embarrassed myself!”

“Relax, babe. Wasn’t the wink emoji I sent after enough of a hint?” Tobio smirked at him through the screen, and Akira’s annoyance flew out of the window because he knew Tobio was right. Akira was just irritated because he excitedly watched the video on mute right after Tobio sent it, causing him to be uncomfortable at work for the rest of the day.

“Shut up,” Akira retorted, a shy smile creeping across his face.

When Facetiming, Akira would sometimes just leave his cat, Eri, on the screen, and Tobio would gush at how cute Eri was and always comment about how she has gotten fatter since the last time Tobio saw her.

“What are you even feeding her? She looks five pounds heavier from last week!” Tobio had exclaimed.

Akira lets out a giggle and grabs his phone, with his face coming into the screen. “We miss you, baby.”

Tobio beams at him. “I miss you and Eri too.”

They sent each other care packages – Akira sent him Japanese instant food and made sure to include Tobio’s favorite milk boxes in them, while Tobio sent him expensive chocolates and leather pieces which Akira treasured and would show off to his coworkers.

Akira wasn’t sure when it all started going downhill. Unanticipatedly, the phone calls only happened three times a week, until it became only twice in a fortnight. The exchanged messages became lesser – no more naughty texts, silly selfies, and barely any random photos of strangers. Akira had started to feel like he didn’t know what was going on in Tobio’s life anymore, even though he could watch his games online or on TV. Akira had felt lonely.

When he started dating Tobio, Akira already knew of his plans and what he was getting into, but he didn’t expect any of this to happen. Both of them never expected another fall-out. Akira had declared, “I’ll wait for you,” but being apart for so long was just too much for him – it was agonizing. He couldn’t handle the lack of physical presence and intimacy. Sure, Akira loved how Tobio was doing what he adored most, but Akira had come to the realization that he craved a normal relationship with a partner who was always there for him and with him. Whenever he wasn’t talking to Tobio, he suspected something was missing, like he wasn’t whole. Ultimately, he got tired of waiting for when they’ll forever be together. He got tired of missing Tobio every time he woke up in the morning, until he got to the point where he felt like he also got tired of Tobio himself.

Now, he felt even lonelier after breaking up with Tobio. Akira had discerned that just love in a long-distance relationship was never enough. Akira’s last thought before passing out was, _I guess we were never meant to be._

**Author's Note:**

> an attempt was made... i hope i made you feel something |ω･)ﾉ
> 
> this is my first hq fic so kudos and comments are greatly appreciated ♡♡♡


End file.
